


come down, i'd follow you

by coffeewordangel



Series: tumblr drabbles [8]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, Selkie - Freeform, Supernatural Elements, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 15:59:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7898902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeewordangel/pseuds/coffeewordangel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompted anonymously with, "mermaid zayn gets caught in liam's fishermen's net".</p><p>I took a slightly different angle with it.</p><p><a href="https://www.tumblr.com/blog/empty-altars">My tumblr</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	come down, i'd follow you

Liam rises early in his solitude. Morning dawns in a wash of gray; threatening sky turning the sea a flat silver kissing up against the shale shore. Mist flirts around the toothy rocks cropping up from the shallow water, cold and dreamy. The air is cool and salty, warded off by the thick jumper wrapping his torso. 

It’s an ominous day, all told, and Liam wonders if he should even check his nets. He’s never been one to be afraid of the sea, though, so he readies his modest boat and navigates out onto the choppy water. There’s a reluctant beauty to the sea when she’s sullen and Liam respects all her inconstant moods.

The glass floats bob violently as he pulls up to them, more than even the restless water would warrant. He hopes he hasn’t caught a larger creature in his net. It happens occasionally, but he always feels awful about it. A test tug at the net confirms his suspicions and regret curls in his chest. 

It takes all his strength to drag the net into the boat, straining his muscles and almost toppling him backward. A fair smattering of ling and cod spread across the deck, but Liam pays no mind to their floundering. His gaze is fixed on the stunning figure angrily tangled in the center of the net. 

There’s no mistaking what it is: there’s a merman glaring at Liam and entangling himself further with every attempt to escape. He’s beautiful, vivid technicolor in a black and white world. His skin is a glistening tawny gold blending down into a vibrant fish tail the color of sunsets and fire, bright reds and brilliant oranges shimmering against the weathered deck.

Liam’s breath catches in his throat. He’s never seen anything quite so lovely in his entire life. The merman’s brilliant caramel-bronze eyes are narrowed and flashing, framed by a luxurious fan of lashes. The lines of the net have begun to dig in to the point of drawing blood, turning Liam’s stomach with guilt.

“Hey,” he says in a gentle tone. “Let me help you.”

The merman bares his teeth in a soundless hiss and slaps his exquisite tail against the wood. Liam holds his hands out, palm up, and tries to exude an unthreatening calm. The merman twists harder against the net.

“Stop,” Liam pleads. “You’re hurting yourself. I can free you. I’m so sorry you got caught.”

Anger turns to wariness as Liam inches closer, slow and patient. The merman twitches like he can’t hold himself still, but allows Liam to brush gentle fingers over the worst of the damage. He’s cool to the touch, which shouldn’t be a surprise but he looks like warmth personified and Liam can’t help but inhale sharply.

“I’m going to get my knife out and cut you free, okay?” Liam has no way of knowing if his intentions are understood so he makes sure to move slowly and show the merman the knife before putting it to the worst of the tangles.

Blood wells in a few of the cuts as soon as the pressure lifts, thin red lines criss-crossing the perfect skin. Liam wants to cry a little because he inadvertently hurt this incredible creature. He hopes they don’t scar. He can’t bear the thought of permanently marring him. Hopefully the salt of the sea will heal them over seamlessly.

“I’m so sorry,” Liam repeats, brushing away a drop of blood with his thumb, succeeding only in smearing it across damp skin.

The merman sits up fully and leans closer. He’s almost smiling, full lips tilted slightly at the edges. He smells of salt and scales, not unpleasantly fishy but definitely like a creature of the sea. His long, elegant fingers reach up to cup Liam’s jaw and a low, haunting melody winds it’s way through Liam’s head. It stills every thought in his head with its beauty and there’s only one place it could come from.

Liam becomes aware of his jaw being open in awe and flushes furiously. He’s behaving like a rube, any semblance of sophistication or self-awareness dissolved in the face of such perfection. The merman’s lips tilt up even further and his eyes flash in amusement. He darts forward to press a chilly kiss to the corner of Liam’s mouth and then hoists himself overboard and into the water with a splash. 

Liam stares out into the water long after it has calmed.

\---

For seven nights, Liam dreams of the merman. In his dreams they talk under the water, surrounded by drifting kelp and flitting fish, hands intertwined between them. As stunning as he is above water, he’s even more beautiful under it with the sunlight piercing the surface to play along his cheekbones. He’s graceful and elegant in his natural environment.

Liam wakes every morning with a melody swirling his memory and the name ‘Zayn’ upon his lips. He obsessively goes out onto the water, but there’s no sign of his merman in the dark waves. He can think of little else, his solitude for once a burden instead of a gift.

The morning after the seventh dream, Liam vows not to take the boat out. Instead he dresses warmly and pulls on his boots over thick wool socks and heads out to the shoreline. There’s sun behind the sheen of clouds, burning pale and steady as though behind a veil. Rock crunches beneath his feet, darkened by the water lapping over it. 

As Liam comes to his favorite part of the shore, the shallow water pierced by ancient craggy rocks, he sees a flash of golden red and his heart stutters in his chest. He tries to contain himself, to not rush forward, but fails in his resolve when dark hair breaches the water’s surface.

“Zayn,” Liam breathes out reverently.

The merman inclines his head in a slight nod, smile playing around his pink lips. 

“That’s your name.” Liam pauses to consider the ramifications of this knowledge. “You’ve been communicating with me?”

Zayn smirks at him and reaches out to brush their fingers together. Melodic vocals once more play in his head. Liam doesn’t quite understand their entire meaning in the waking world, but he thinks he grasps the gist of them. The glint in Zayn’s eyes is playful, but the music in Liam’s head holds a hint of melancholy.

They’re not an ancient fairytale told by firesides, though, of the merman in love with a land dweller. Not quite. Liam can’t believe he’s even contemplating the actions he is, but Zayn’s fingers sliding between his own make him brave. He reaches out with his other hand and traces Zayn’s plush mouth with his thumb.

“It’s not impossible,” Liam tells him softly. “Us. We’re not impossible.”

Zayn cocks his head to the side, tongue flicking out to drag cold and damp over Liam’s thumb. Liam shivers partly with desire and partly against the chill that runs through him from that point of contact. What he’s contemplating is insane, but it feels right. It’s the most right he’s felt in years. 

“Do you want that? Us?” Liam has to be sure.

Zayn brings Liam in to press their foreheads together. Rivulets of water trickle down from Zayn’s hair over Liam’s cheeks in salty tracks. They sting slightly against his wind chapped skin. In his mind the solo voice crescendos in obvious answer. 

“Can you meet me here at moonrise tonight?” Liam asks.

Zayn nods emphatically, nose bumping endearingly against Liam’s. Liam grins at him, suddenly buoyant and almost giddy in his joy. He firmly presses his lips to Zayn’s, his own body heat warming the cooler skin. 

“Stay with me for a while,” Liam offers. There are hours to go before he’ll need to get ready. He can pass some of them here with Zayn.

\---

Liam waits as long as he dares before heading out back and grabbing a shovel. There’s no marker on the ground, but he knows unerringly where to dig. It’s hard going, purposefully so, the ground giving not a single shovel easily. Liam ends up pulling off his jumper halfway through, overheated and sweaty in his singlet.

Eventually the earth gives up its prize and Liam drags the heavy box out of its hole. The chains that wrap it are rusted a bit, but still holding strong. Liam pulls the key from around his neck and slides it into the lock with shaky fingers. There’s no turning back from this and the moon is almost up. 

He opens the chest slowly, reverently. The pile of rich brown fur curled at the bottom doesn’t look like much but the sight of it is like a fish hook in his gut, tugging just behind where a belly button would be were he entirely human. It calls to him strongly, begging him to put it on, reminding him of who he truly is. 

Instead Liam picks up the chest and carries it down to the shore. Zayn waits just beyond the shoreline, looking otherworldly, smooth skin kissed delicately by silver moonlight. His expression shifts quickly between curious and anxious and back again. Liam smiles serenely at him and begins stripping down to bare skin. 

It’s cold, of course, given the early spring breeze off the water, but it’s temporary. Once he is clothed only in air and sea mist, Liam picks up the pelt. It’s luxurious to the touch, soothing something deep within him that was torn years ago. Joyous realization dawns on Zayn’s face as he watches Liam pull the sleek pelt around him like a cloak.

Liam’s head falls back as the magic takes hold, changing him back into his true form with a shiver of fur and crack of bone. It’s momentarily disorienting, being belly-down on the sand with only flippers to propel him forward to the water. Liam sneezes once, mightily, which brings a delighted grin to Zayn’s face. 

Zayn slaps the water with his tail, sending a spray into Liam’s whiskered face. Liam barks at him in mock annoyance and lumbers further into the water. Once fully immersed he’s agile and graceful again and takes off to joyfully chase Zayn through the waves.


End file.
